The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, that opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used to support specific programs, all acquisition of artwork, and additional general support.
Considered among the largest art museums in North America for the square footage of exhibition space, the VMFA’s comprehensive art collection includes African art, American art, British sporting art, Fabergé, and Himalayan art. One of the first museums in the American South to be operated by state funds, VMFA offers free admission, except for special exhibits.
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the adjacent Virginia Historical Society anchor the eponymous “Museum District” of Richmond and the “West of the Boulevard.”
The museum includes the Leslie Cheek Theater, a performing arts venue. For 50 years, a theater company has been operating here, known most recently as TheatreVirginia. Built in 1955 as a 500-seat theatre within the art museum, it started as a community theater and hosted special dance, film, and music programs. In 1969 the director established an Actors’ Equity/LORT company, Virginia Museum Theatre, hiring local actors and professionals from New York City or elsewhere. Some of its productions received national notice. In 1973 its production of Maxim Gorky’s play Our Father transferred to New York to the Manhattan Theater Club. Because of continuing financial problems, the non-profit theater closed in 2002. After renovation, it reopened in 2011 as part of the museum to host various live performance events.
Permanent Collections
- African Art: In 1994 and 1995, the museum exhibited its 250-object African art collection in Spirit of the Motherland: African Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. As of 2011, the collection has grown to around 500 objects, with particular strengths in the art of the Kuba, the Akan, the Yoruba, and the Kongo peoples, and the art of Mali.
- American Art: The American art collection began with twenty works of the John Barton Payne donation. Since the 1980s, the museum has begun to systematically build its holdings in American art, aided in 1988 by the creation of an endowment by patrons Harwood and Louise Cochrane to support such acquisitions. Bed Bug Exterminator Richmond
In 2005, the McGlothlin family promised a bequest of their collection of American art and financial support, valued at well above $100 million.
- Ancient American art
- Ancient art: Begun in 1936, the Ancient collection expanded under Director Leslie Cheek with the Brooklyn Museum’s and other institutions’ advice. The collection consists of works from the Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Greek, Phrygian, Etruscan, Ancient Roman, and Byzantine civilizations. In addition, it includes one of two ancient Egyptian mummies in the city of Richmond, “Tjeby” (the other is at the University of Richmond).
Address: 301 N. Sheppard St., Richmond, VA
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